WALES boss Chris Coleman has challenged himself and his players to match the success of Swansea City and Cardiff City.

WALES boss Chris Coleman has challenged himself and his players to match the success of Swansea City and Cardiff City.

Coleman’s side play their first game of 2013 tomorrow with Austria the guests for a Liberty Stadium friendly ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia.

Wales are already virtually out of the running for a place at Brazil 2014 after losing three of their four matches to date, the solitary source of comfort being a Gareth Bale-inspired 2-1 victory over Scotland in October.

But Coleman is keen to start transmitting the success of the Welsh club scene to the national team.

“If we get Swansea and Cardiff in the Premier League – and Wrexham and Newport are also going well in the Conference – that would be absolutely fantastic for Welsh football,” he said. “We would have two teams performing in the biggest and best league in the world and not many people would have bet on that five years ago.”

The rise of Swansea and Cardiff has even had senior rugby officials nervously assessing the situation, wondering what the knock-on effort could be for them and what is generally described as “the national sport in Wales”.

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Coleman admits that “everyone has to raise their game” but he is embracing the challenge rather than shying away from it.

“Swansea have raised the bar and if Cardiff get in the Premier League they’ve raised the bar as well,” he said.

“So what do you do? Not do well because it’s harder for everybody else?

“That’s not the way, no everybody else has got to raise their game.

“As Welsh manager, you see Swansea and Cardiff doing well and I know I’ve got to try and get my team winning.

“If I do that then Welsh football overall will be doing well.

“As I say, the bar’s been raised and we’ve all got to try and match that.”

Coleman admitted he was dreading his phone ringing after a busy weekend of Premier League and Championship action.

Mass withdrawals have been a common theme of Wales squad get-togethers and Coleman must have winced when his skipper Ashley Williams and star man Gareth Bale picked up knocks over the weekend.

But as his squad gathered in Cardiff Bay yesterday morning, only Crystal Palace goalkeeper Lewis Price was missing from the original 22-man party with Jason Brown, without a club after recently leaving Aberdeen, called up as cover.

That means Coleman will be able to count on key individuals like Bale, Williams, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Craig Bellamy for the Austria game, although club managers will no doubt be scrutinising the number of minutes their players have in Swansea.

“You want all your players there because this is our last opportunity before two crucial World Cup qualifiers next month,” said Coleman, who has fond memories of Austria having scored against them on his Wales debut in 1992 during a 1-1 draw in Vienna.

One player set to figure is rookie Swansea defender Ben Davies who has enjoyed a meteoric rise since replacing the injured Neil Taylor for club and country.

Taylor suffered a broken leg in September and Coleman admits has a selection dilemma when the former Wrexham left-back returns.

Davies is set to win his third cap tomorrow night with Sam Ricketts the likely candidate to be switched into the heart of defence to partner Williams.

“Ben has done well, he’s only 19,” said Coleman.

“Sometimes you get opportunities, sometimes you don’t take them and sometimes you grab them with both hands and that’s what Ben has done.

“He’s grown in stature and confidence.

“Offensively he’s getting better and better and he’s got a great mentality and attitude to football and he’s really done brilliantly.”

Taylor, 23, could be forgiven for wondering how he will win his place back after watching his young protege make such an impression as he battles back to fitness.

But Coleman has made it clear his contribution has not been forgotten.

“Neil has to get fit,” he said. “He’s worked tremendously hard, and I have had constant conversations with him because I know what it’s like to be out for a long time and it’s really hard.

“He just has to get fit and he can worry about where he’s going to play after that.

“We shouldn’t have an attitude of the King is dead, long live the King, because we must remember Neil is a quality player and he’s shown that.

“Ben will know he’s in good company when Neil gets fit, but all Neil has to focus on is getting himself ready and getting back.

“If he gets back before the end of the season then he’s done well because it was a nasty injury.”

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